I've never read a novel such as this one. It was so different for me. This is not your average veteran romance novel. Rather, it is about how to vets find each other again after horrific events. Chance brings them to Wind River Valley, where the sparks that they felt in a war zone can now burn bright.

This novel really deals with some of the worst thing people can go through: war, violence, abuse. I was really struck with how they all seemed to rise above the issues that they'd faced to be good and hard working people, and to accept love as well as happiness in their lives. This has to be my favorite McKenna novel to date. And I can't wait to read more.

You are back at the Bar “C” cattle ranch with the same characters as in the last book. The difference in this book is that it opens with Kira Duval and her trauma that she is experiencing since being home since the Special Forces unit that she was attached with was ambushed. Only she and Garret Fleming survived the attacked and she wonders what has even happen to Garret because she has not found any information about him. Now being summoned to the Pentagon to see her mentor how has found her a job with a place to stay if she wants it in Wyoming at a ranch named Bar C. once there she finds out that the other vet’s there all have their PTDSD issues as well. She also finds Garret and this is there story. Both of them working through their fears, and other issues, but will it led them to each other. Can they each tell the other one what and how they feel? Read this good book. You also still have the same part of the story with the father who thinks he still owns the ranch but ran it into the ground and his abuse issues especially towards females and his daughter, if you have read any of the other books. If not you will be caught up. A very good book. To go along with the rest of the series.

Wind River Cowboy is the third novel in the Wind River series, and although it was well-written and I liked the premise, it was somewhat problematic for this reader, and I could only give it 3 stars.

First problem, the title. The hero in this novel, Garret Fleming, isn't a cowboy, and never even gets on a horse. It's a small point, granted, but it's certainly misleading.

The hero and heroine, Kira Duval, served together in Afghanistan as part of a 12-person black ops team for 3 years (Kira was the lone female), until an ambush left 10 men dead, Kira and Garret each shot twice, but Garret took a shot to his head. Once Kira was medi-vacced out, she couldn't find any information on Garret, whom she loved in secret, whom she'd pulled to safety, and whose life she saved. Garret also came to in a hospital, only to discover he had total amnesia, which lasted 6 months. He too tried to find Kira when his memories returned, but when he contacted her father, Les, her father told him that after living with him for a month, she moved on and he had no idea of her whereabouts.

If you've read the previous novels in this series, if won't come as any surprise that these two characters have PTSD, not unusual at the Bar C Ranch, where only damaged veterans are employed. Kira has lost 5 jobs in the past year as a result of her PTSD issues with stress, anxiety and flashbacks. When her superior sends her to Wind River, Wyoming and the Bar C Ranch for another try at a job where she can heal and where her issues will be understood by the owner, Shay, a PTSD victim as well, Kira is shocked and surprised to discover that Garret has been living and working there for the past year. These two are thrilled to find each again, still secretly in love, and still trying to work through their own issues.

Unfortunately, Kira's new job at the ranch is as caregiver, cook and cleaning lady to Shay's abusive, alcoholic father, Ray, who is recuperating from a stroke and who was brought back to the ranch in the previous novel in this series. Her fluency in Arabic is also put to use as as an on-line translator. She's also sharing a house on the ranch with Garret. Kira, afraid of being fired yet again, doesn't mention that Ray's verbal abuse began on Day One, and this is where my problems with this novel really began. It's not as though Garret doesn't notice that Kira comes back from waiting on Ray, pale, shaken and withdrawn. He keeps trying to figure it out, but since he's lived there for a year, he already knows what Ray is like, so he should have been able to figure it out long before Ray's abuse became physical. Also, Shay, who watched her mother being abused and who, after her mother's untimely death, became the target of her father's abuse, doesn't even bother to warn Kira about Ray's behavior at all.

The next problem I had was one of maturity. Garret and Kira aren't in high school, but most of the novel consists of them existing in their own heads, page after page of their internal dialogue, mooning over each other but doing little to nothing about it. Garret, at 30 years of age, misses every signal of Kira's affection for him, and while I commend him for his patience and willingness to take it slow, all the head games and doubts move this novel forward slower than molasses in January, and their endless self-doubt becomes incredibly redundant and unnecessary. These two admirable characters don't admit to their feelings for each other until the novel is almost over, nor is there any type of action scene to propel the story forward. Frankly, at the midway point of the novel, I started to skim past much of the internal dialogue because it was so repetitive, and in all honesty, I believe this story could have easily been told in half the time.

It also hit one of my recent pet peeves for the repeated use of the phrase, "in the best way possible" or "in the best possible way." I started encountering this phrase in other novels by other authors about 2 years ago, and its use over those 2 years has skyrocketed--it now appears in almost every novel I read. Things happen when they happen, and once an author has created characters as vividly drawn as Ms. McKenna always does, I wish these authors would give some credit to the intelligence of their readers, who are perfectly able to deduce how a character will react to a comment or event without being told that they took whatever happened "in the best way possible."

Yes, as expected, there's an HEA ending as well as the set-up for the next novel in the series, and, because I'm a long-time fan of Ms. McKenna's novels, I'll read and review it, and I sincerely hope that it won't be quite as slow-moving or redundant as Wind River Cowboy.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance reader copy of this novel and received no compensation for doing so. The opinions expressed are my own.

Kira and Garrett were in the same Special Forces team until ambush kills everyone but them. They get separated between the hospitals and lose touch. Now Kira finally lands at the Bar C ranch which was started by another veteran. Barely arriving she sees Garrett again when she's assigned to stay with him in his cabin. They were secretly in love with each other before but it was inappropriate to act on it so they both ignored and hid it. Now though they are free but also dealing with PTSD and trying to find their way in a different kind of life. Loved the idea for this story but i felt all over the place reading it. To much angst and not enough good moments. The love story part took forever to develop and while i realize they were dealing with PTSD there was no communication really. There was some stuff with the father of the lady who owned the ranch and expected more from that. It fell kind of flat for me. Something overall just did not click for me. I have not read the other books in this series but I don't feel like reading them first would have helped. Not sure if i will read the next book in the series.

Kira Duval and Weapons Sergeant Garret Fleming are sole survivors from battle that are separated in the hospitals. They each move to the Bar C in Wyoming to recover and find each other again. This is the 3rd wind river valley book and am enjoying the setting, characters and their struggles and courage.
Ebook from Net Galley and publishers with thanks. Opinions are entirely my own.

As with the other books in the series, the attention brought to Military Vets and their struggles with PTSD, once returning home, is an important message that cannot be addressed too much. I enjoyed the continuing story of the Bar-C ranch and the Vets who go there to heal and recover from PTSD, while earning a living and working to bring the ranch come back to life, after nearly being destroyed by an angry alcoholic and stroke victim.

The only issue I had with the story was that I felt it dragged on to nearly the end of the book before Garrett and Kira finally admitted their feelings for each other. Up to that point they spent most of the book thinking about kissing each other and how much they loved the other. Understanding their PTSD more than likely played a part in the drawn out factor, I felt that the thinking just about kissing was hard to hold my attention, especially Kira's inner monologues focusing so long on doing so.

The intriguing factor of Ray Crawford continuing hatred and vitriol added a different layer to the overall story...the attention to alcoholism and physical abuse was another important message the needs constant awareness. Not only do I want to see where Noah and Diar's story leads in the next book, but just how far Ray will go to get what he sees as his ranch back.

This book was provided by the Publisher and Netgalley, I am voluntarily providing my honest review.

I have always loved Lindsey McKenna and this story was no exception. This story progressed a little slowly at times, but was a sweet friends to romance story with beautiful healing of and through each other.

"Wind River Cowboy" was exactly as I expected. Lindsay Mckenna writes military romance and its aftermath like no other author I have read. She always seems to deliver hope, healing, friendship, love, romance, and very strong developed characters. The third in the 'Wind River' series, it stands alone, we have a beautifully written story of Garrett and Kira both healing from PTSD and their injuries. Not only do we follow Garrett and Kira as the H and h, through their healing of both mind and body while conveying their love to each other, but we also have previous characters that play a great part in their story. PTSD is a real factor for vets and writing it into a romance book and dealing with it brings the story to a greater level. The romance is there, the heartbreak is there, the HEA and all of the other things that I love is found in this one. A recommended read. I look forward to the next one this fall. Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for gifting me "Wind River Cowboy". My opinion is my own. This is mine 4.5 Stars!

Awesome story! This story touched my heart! It tells of the pain and mental anguish our military veterans deal with when the war for them is finally over. What makes this story and the series as a whole special is the author telling us of the individual struggles of each veteran while also telling us of their internal strengths. This is Garrett's and Kira's story, two veterans that had been the lone survivor's of an ambush to their whole team. This story is very heartfelt and intense and also touches on some serious subject matters. I loved the sexual tension between Garrett and Kira throughout the story. Highly recommended if your looking for something different in your romances!!

I received this as an Advance Readers copy, I loved the story but in this book, there was something missing story wise, I couldn't quite put my finger on it, the characters were well developed, storyline was good but I was left wanting for more out this story.

This book was graciously provided by netgalley for an honest review.

Oy. I don't even know where to begin.....
Kira Duval and Garret Fleming were on the same black ops team for 3 years. There team was station in Afghanistan and consisted of 11 men and 1 woman. One night, they were ambushed leaving 2 lone survivors. Because of the injuries of that night, Kira and Garret lost touch with one another and both suffer from both physical wounds and PTSD.
Garret has been working at the Bar C for the past year, a ranch ran by Shay, a former military veteran who wants to give back to veterans, like herself, who experience PTSD.
After being fired from her last 5 positions because of anxiety, stress and symptoms of her PTSD, Kira leaves her father and is called to a meeting with her superior at the Pentagon. While there, she is given the opportunity to go to Wyoming to work at the Bar C Ranch. She immediately takes it.
Upon her arrival, Shay fills Kira in on her working requirements; she will be the caretaker of Shay's alcoholic father who is recovering from a stroke as well as work on translating documents. In exchange for room and board, Kira will give 15% of her profits from translating to the ranch. Kira is assigned a ranch house. She will be staying with a wrangler who has been with the ranch the longest, a man named Garret.
In walks Garret from Kira's past.........
It is quickly revealed that both Kira and Garret are in love with each other, but both fear telling or showing the other their true feelings. Shay's abusive, alcoholic father triggers all of Kira's PTSD symptoms, which triggers Garret's fierce protectiveness over Kira. This was the entire story.

In my opinion, Kira and Garret's relationship felt very middle-schoolish. I don't mean to be insensitive to their reluctance to rush into anything because of their experiences, but the continual 'Could I really be reading/feeling love/lust/longing/need/want in his/her eyes/actions.' got tiring. Fast. Then talking themselves out of what they were reading/feeling; over and over and over. And over again. They would feel giddy and/or aroused over a simple, brief touch on the shoulder or forearm. This went on for 90% of the book, the span of MONTHS for the characters.
There were many sweet, thoughtful and caring gestures which occurred, but I found myself shouting in my head, 'Just get on with it!'

As many of my friends could tell you, I don't quit on books and authors easily. While this was my first Lindsay McKenna book, I don't think it'll be my last. I look forward to finding a book which redeems this one.

Thank you, again, to the publisher and netgalley for allowing me to review and arc of this book.
This is my honest review.

Wind River Cowboy is a well written romance. The book has a good plot with believable characters. I especially enjoyed the ranch setting.

Anyone who reads Lindsay McKenna’s Wind River Cowboy comes away with a renewed respect for those who serve in the military, which is exactly as she planned since the book is dedicated to them. I know I absolutely did even more so than after reading the first two excellent books in the series. The heartbreak, the honor, the trauma, and the lasting aftermath are all in this book along with the fighting spirit, the refusal to give up and the uplifting hope of overcoming.

Sgt. Kira Duval has survived an ambush while serving in Afghanistan. The horror of it makes for difficult reading in the beginning knowing that these events actually happen to our military personnel. While it is not graphic it is vivid so that you can see the attack in your mind’s eye.

The chance reuniting, the working through their PSTD and the friendship that developed now as civilians was authentic bringing these characters and their struggles to life. If someone had not told me a true personal similar experience about the not knowing what had happened to someone in his unit, I would think this was just a plot ploy. However, it seems the military does not share these facts. Even if it had been a contrived ploy, it is a wonderful one uniting her with Garrett Fleming. These are not characters who rush into anything now. But when they do, wow. The second subplot with the ranch owner and her father rounds out the story; reminding us that life is never without problems.

My favorite of the series, it is a don’t miss read. Read them all to see the Ranch in Wyoming get up and running with the last two couples.

I received a copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

When Kira's team was ambushed in Afghanistan most died but she did mange to get her team leader Garret out, although they were both injured. As they were bring transported and for treatment, she lost track of him.

Kira has had a rough time since returning from Afghanistan. She had originally went home and stayed with her father but her PTSD was making it very strained. She went off on her own so her dad wouldn't suffer. She has already been fired from 4 jobs because of the stress and anxiety she has.

She is then offered a job a Bar C ranch and it is the beginning of the beginning for Kira.

The owner of the ranch is a Vet herself and deals with PTSD. She has opened her ranch to fellow vets so they can start over and heal and make a life for themselves again.

When Kira arrives and gets the lay of the land, she is shocked to find out who her new housemate will be....none other than Garret. When she saw him she wanted to laugh, to cry and to throw herself in his arms.

Garret is also shocked but he is also shocked by her appearance. She is thin and fatigued, she is so different from the Kira he knew. He loved Kira when they were deployed but could never act on it because of their responsibilities.

It is a bit stressed between them at first but after they talk about parts of their lives from the day of the ambush on, things get better. Neither ne knows the other one cares, they are just too raw right now.

Kira is being stressed out by her job at the ranch, taking care of the owner's father, who has had a stroke. He doesn't like women in general and is demeaning and cruel. He has been an ongoing problem, one that will have to be dealt with but Kira is afraid of being fired again.

I love the patience and support Garret gives Kira. He is also very protective of her, something everyone has noticed. Can he help Kira find a part of herself that she lost?

I loved this book! I read another in the series and liked that also. The idea that this group can support one another, become a family and make this ranch a success is just awesome! They have their roadblocks but working together helps!

A continuación of a good series. The ranch is filling up with more vets, and Kira and Garret make a good couple. Both had been black-ops in Afghanistan together, and were the only ones to survive. Now the reconnect and grow stronger together. The old characters, good and bad, are here from the previous book, and while it is not needed to read it would help to explain the animosity with Shay's father. Highly recommend this book and author and look forward to Noah's book.

WIND RIVER COWBOY by Lindsay McKenna was a little hard to read because of the topic...PTSD...I did enjoy this book and Kira and Garret finding each other again and understanding their love. .. There was a lot of Reese and Shay's story and also Noah and Harper are featured. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series WRANGLER'S CHALLENGE which will be Dair and Noah's story. Hope everyone plays a part in this book too.

I've really enjoyed all the books in this series, including this one, however this one wasn't my favorite. It took quite a while for the relationship to develop between Kira and Garrett to develop even though they have known each other and cared about each other for a long time. The whole thing was too drawn out in my opinion. The secondary storyline of the ranch owner and her father was far more interesting and I can't wait to see how this works out. There are also several secondary characters that are intriguing and left me wanting more so I will definitely be looking for the next in the series.

This is one I would recommend with the caveat that it takes a while to get going but worth the wait.

Wind River Cowboy by Lindsay McKenna
Wind River Valley #3

Kira and Garet were on the same special ops team and spent three years together overseas. They survived an attack that left the other ten men of their team dead. They lost touch with one another while recovering from their injuries but fortuitously met up again working in Wyoming on a ranch that hires military veterans with PTSD.

Garet is a great guy. He is strong, caring, a team player and protective to the core. Kira seems to have lost herself a bit but begins to blossom and return to her previous self while working in Wyoming. The two have hidden their romantic interest in one another for the entire time they worked side by side in the military but that interest did not fade in the year they were apart. The time it takes the two be willing to express that interest in one another left me a bit puzzled but…sometimes I guess it is hard to break the habits created over time.

In addition to the romance of Garet and Kira there is a second storyline that deals with the trouble between the owner of the ranch and her father. Finding out how that will be resolved is as intriguing as is the next story in the series that will speak of two horse wranglers who are veterans with PTSD.

I enjoyed this book but think I enjoyed the previous one a bit more. I am not sure if it is because it took Kira and Garet so long to finally admit they cared for one another as more than friends or if it was something else. Anyway, it is a nice addition to the series and I do look forward to finding out how Noah and Dair will find their HEA. An aside – Brook, a widow with a child, was mentioned and I wonder if perhaps she will find a husband in Harper or if another veteran will show up for her.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books – Zebra for the ARC. This is my honest review.

3 Stars

This book is the third of Ms McKenna’s series titled Wind River Valley.
I had read the previous two and was looking forward to this one. I have to say , as much as I loved the previous two, I found this one just ok.
The pros:
Ms McKenna brings to light the horrors of war that our troops endure during war and deployment. Case in point, the PTSD that our characters Garrett and Kira , as well as their friends, are suffering.
Throughout the story, she also emphasizes the stress these men and women go through upon their return. We , as a nation , need to provide better assistance emotionally, mentally, as well as in the workplace.
She also touches on the effects alcoholism has on the families of those that have the addiction.
As much as I appreciated and was touched by all of this, I felt the plot was weak.
The reader aware of the attraction between Kira and Garrett, but it’s dragged almost till the end ,before either admits it. For me , that was a real issue.
Still, I am looking forward to the next book in the series.
I was gifted this book by Netgalley. The opinions expressed are solely my own.

Kira, an Army veteran with severe PTSD, takes a job on a Wyoming ranch, and reconnects with the only member of her black ops group who survived. The premise was interesting, but the characters' reluctance to admit their feelings until 3/4 of the book was done seemed a bit odd.